Setting aside the excitement around the holidays, I am not a winter person. Mainly because I do not like cold weather. And no matter how many sweaters and jackets I put on, I am still cold. Having my bedroom in the basement of my house probably doesn’t help either. Hmmmm…

It’s a bit pathetic, but after being outside in the cold, my dog and I plop ourselves in front of our space heater and literally sit there until I turn red. I then just turn my body over and roast my other side.

Anyway, main point is: I want summer. But until I can burrow myself out of my blankets, I’ll take summer food instead. Which is how this recipe came to be.

As we no longer have garden-fresh basil (sob), arugula made for an interesting, yet satisfying twist. And the hidden broccoli made it a filling dip as well! I highly recommend serving/bringing this to your New Years Eve party. I’m sure hibernating family members and friends will appreciate it 😉

Arugula Dip/Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 spear of broccoli florets (thick stems discarded)

1 cup fresh arugula, packed

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 large garlic cloves

1 tsp salt

Directions:

Place broccoli florets into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Afterwards, drain of water and place florets in a bowl of cold water for another 5 minutes. Drain from the water again and transfer florets to a food processor. Add in the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to allow dip/pesto to cool and for flavors to set. Serve!

Time to join the blogging world’s festivities and post my holiday recipe! And what is more holiday-ish than cookies!?

I know, I know. Everybody has had their fair share of cookies by now, but these cookies have actually kept me a bay from eating any other this season. Chewy and soft with a pumpkin flavor, I’ve been munching on these instead of the sugar-filled goodies. Plus, the recipe yields 25 decent-sized cookies- distributing the honey to a small amount per cookie.

Bonus: You can store these in the freezer and take them down as desired. They thaw very nicely! (Although, I just eat them straight from the freezer 😉 )

Pumpkin Cookies (Paleo)

(Makes 25 cookies)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

3 tbsp GROUND flaxseed- do NOT omit! (helps thicken batter)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamom

1 egg

1 cup pumpkin

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup plain, whole milk yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 (Note: it is very important that the oven is at this temperature! I tried experimenting with lower and higher, and it did not work well flavor-wise )

I have to say, one of the benefits of dual-majoring in education is the many parties we have throughout the semester. After all, teachers need to know how to throw classroom parties! Ummmm, or so our professors tell us…

And so, Halloween started off with brownies and cupcakes galore (and the little assembly of fruit I provided). Yup, everyone now knows who the health nut in the room is.

So for our Thanksgiving party, I created a more “treat-like” recipe. However, I think this dip is perfectly acceptable for a special occasion breakfast when paired with apple slices.

Luckily, college students make perfect guinea pigs and I got great feedback on this dip. My professor even asked for the recipe. For a second, I thought of giving her a completely messed up recipe- she’s not exactly my favorite teacher- but my professionalism got in the way.

Stupid conscience.

Anyway, thanks to my classmates, I have a final recipe to provide- and just in time for the holidays 🙂

Pumpkin-Nut Butter Dip

Ingredients :

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup almond butter or peanut butter

1/3 cup plain, whole milk yogurt

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp allspice

Optional: 1 tbsp pure maple syrup

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients (except maple syrup) in a food processor. Taste and add in the maple syrup if you believe you need more sweetness (sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t- it depends on the brand of nut butter I’m using).

Tired of the abundance of plain turkey this week, I decided to mix the remaining shreds with a nice, large and mashed avocado. Thus giving me my own salad to eat throughout the week for lunch! The best part (besides the taste, of course)? Eating it from the empty avocado shells! I got so many “awww! What a cute idea!” from eating this out in public.

Clearly, these people don’t go on Pinterest enough 😉

Turkey/Chicken Avocado Salad (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 large avocado

1/4 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups cooked and shredded turkey or chicken

2/3 cup diced apple

Directions:

In a bowl, mash the avocado. Add in the coconut milk, lemon juice, parsley, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and mix throughly. Add in turkey/chicken and apples and combine altogether. To make “fancy” spoon salad into empty avocado shells.